The veteran righthander, who parted ways with the Minnesota Twins following the 2012 season, was shoveling snow off the driveway of his Vermont home on Jan. 12 when the accident occurred. He jammed his midsection on the handle of his shovel but didn't think the injury was serious.

"It knocked the wind out of me," he told the newspaper. "I didn't think anything of it that weekend. We were out on snowmobiles and sleds with the kids. We were building snowmen."

Four days later, when Pavano didn't feel well after a workout in Connecticut, he sought medical help and was diagnosed with a lacerated spleen. "My body just went into shock. I turned white. It was one of the worst feelings I've probably ever had."

Doctors at a Connecticut hospital recommended Pavano take a wait-and-see approach to see if the bleeding would stop by itself.

But by Jan. 19, a week after the accident, his blood count had dropped dangerously low and a lung had collapsed. His wife called her doctor in Florida to get his opinion.

"He said I was on borrowed time," Pavano said. "So we went to Hartford Hospital. That's the No. 1 trauma center in the area."

Before removing his spleen, doctors first had to remove 6 1/2 liters of blood from his chest cavity, he said.

"I was hours away from going into cardiac arrest and probably wouldn't even be here," Pavano said.

Pavano lost 35 pounds in three weeks and still is too weak to lift his children, ages 3 and 4.

The former All-Star made 11 starts for the Twins in 2012, going 2-5 with 6.00 ERA and missing most of the year with injuries. He didn't pitch after June 1.

He will not be able to work out for several more weeks, or perhaps even months. But he is determined to pitch in the majors again.

"Right now, that's the last thing I'm worried about," he said. "It's been a crazy few weeks."